Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives in the Northern region have cautioned the NPP regional chairman, Bugri Naabu, to halt spewing incriminatory rhetoric in the media against the regional minister, Salifu Saeed, and his deputy, Solomon Boar.
The MMDCEs are demanding a retraction of a “vile allegation” that the regional minister influenced them with GH5000 to hurt his political ambitions in favor of a potential rival.
The shift in alliance by the MMDCEs is the latest effort by worried regional executives to muzzle the regional chairman and disarm him from venting further damaging and distractedly unsubstantiated claims against other party executives.
Bugri became excessively petulant and increasingly bitter after local government ministry denied him a preferential treatment by contemptibly refusing to accept names of individuals he allegedly singlehandedly prepared to be considered for the position of district chief executives.
Few of his applicants considered however failed to get assembly members approval angering the chairman to blame the regional minister and his deputy overseeing the process for the setback. His last hope was dashed living him insecure and offensive after his nephew nominated as DCE for Bunkprugu-Yunyoo was convincingly rejected by the assembly members.
Bugri Naabu launched a media war against the minister after an earlier encounter over road contracts and among the claims, he said the minister and his deputy were doling out heavy sums of money to DCEs in his stronghold to unseat.
He mentioned to Kasapa News in an exclusive interview that DCE for Saboba, George Bingirni, and alleged he told him the regional minister brought him GH5000 on behalf of one Alhaji Samba and that it was meant to sway delegates to vote him out as party regional chairman.
The chairman also accused the two officers of sabotaging presidential appointments, denigrating his authority and advancing factional agenda to divide the party and government, and said he had recommended to President Nana Addo to fire them from office.
However, in a statement responding to the accusations, the MMDCEs of the Northern region fiercely rejected “the very serious allegations”, saying they were collectively dismay by the chairman’s outlandish outburst.
The statement signed by Dean of MMDCEs also the Mion District Chief Executive, Mohammed Hashim again rejected a separate claim by Bugri Naabu against Saboba DCE indicating that Hon George Bingrini “vehemently took exception to this vile allegation and accordingly being scandalized.”
The regional MMDCEs in their defense, rubbished Bugri claims and collectively insisted the regional minister never gave them such amount for campaigning against any party executive or government appointment.
“Especially so, when the party has not yet opened nominations for the regional chairmanship slot. Rather, the Northern regional minister and his deputy who work as a best pair have excellently represented his Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo, by assisting all the latter’s nominees to be confirmed. Some of us even chalked remarkable record of 100%. This shows how versatile, tactful and diplomatic the Minister is, and not how father has alleged of him and by extension attempted to soil our image as well.”
“It must be made clear with emphasis that, we represent His excellency the President and by this reflect this clean and incorruptible leader many Ghanaians have entrusted their hopes on. Anything with corruption, bribery should be a thing we are averse to. In view of this, we the MMDCEs have respectively called on our father to cease throwing salvos on the news portals and specifically retract this allegation forthwith”, the statement reluctantly demands.
Meanwhile, the opposition National Democratic Congress in the region has called for investigation into the allegations. According to the regional director of elections, Rashid Tanko Computer, the allegations by the NPP chairman must be not be sidestepped by security operatives and that this presents a fine opportunity for President Nana Addo to defend his claim of moral high ground.
“It is a serious worry, because if these two people are now accusing each other of corruption and it’s not coming from no other person than the regional, who himself is corrupt, that tells you that the whole administration is damn corrupt
“These two people have made the region …. Look, for the past six months they have been in office, tell me what tangible have they done in this region; nothing, because their corrupt activities have denied the general public of the fruit of labor they are working for. We are monitoring and expect that the powers that be- the presidency and the security agents to up their game”, Tanko Computer said.
By: Eliasu Tanko
